We are a homeschooling family that has been graced with 5 daughters. Follow our adventures in life.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Cruising

About 2 years ago, our twins came to us and asked for a cruise to celebrate their 18th birthday. They turned 18 this past February but we waited until November due to hurricane season and our oldest daughter who works at the local Supervisor of Elections office.

November 10th found our family along with my mom boarding ship for our first cruise. We started off enjoying our first meal and quickly learned how much food was going to be available for the next 3 days. Overall the food was very good on the ship and we enjoyed having the opportunity to try unusual foods like escargot and roasted duck that we normally would not purchase or make. We chose the earlier evening meal time which usually worked well as we would be hungry and ready for lots of food. I was disappointed that Carnival apparently just started putting a surcharge on things like lobster and other more expensive meats so I wasn't able to have the lobster I was looking forward to. Our wait staff was wonderful and quickly learned that coffee was a standard with dessert.

We were able to get into our cabins right away although we didn't get all our luggage until later in the day. The 5 girls were in one cabin with 2 twin beds, 2 bunk beds that were folded up against the wall during the day and a trundle bed. My mom shared a cabin with my husband and I. We had 2 twin beds pushed together and a trundle bed. The beds were actually very comfortable and while there wasn't much walking room, we had plenty of storage. The one thing we would definitely do different on our next cruise is get a room with at least a window! Our room was very dark so there was no way to know if the sun was up or not. That was not easy for me as my habit is to look out a window shortly after getting up in the mornings.

When we went up for breakfast Friday morning, I was amazed at the color of the ocean! I had heard how pretty the Caribbean was but to see it in person is breathtaking. After breakfast, we headed up top to watch as we pulled into our first stop, Freeport. While I found the water to be beautiful, I was not overly impressed with the port itself. It was very industrial looking. Since this was our first cruise and because they are expensive, we didn't arrange to do any excursions so everyone but my husband and I chose to get off at Freeport. There was a small shopping area that we walked through. It was mostly the same things like your standard souvenirs but we also saw some different things like a turtle made from coconut shells. Cruise elegant was dinner that evening and you can believe it was much looked forwarded to with our boatload of girls.

Saturday morning, we awoke to find that we were in port at Nassau. This was more the look I was expecting. We all got off after breakfast and headed into the town. We had to walk past the other 4 ships that were also there and made our ship look like the runt of the bunch. There were quite a few locals trying to get us to take their tour or taxi or carriage ride or get our hair braided. Thanks to advice of friends, the girls had their hair up or under hats. We then headed down the street where there were shops of all kinds and offering everything you could imagine. We went to the closest beach where we put our feet in the water - cold water that is! We then headed back to do some shopping and enjoy some activities on the ship. We pulled out right around sunset so we had some opportunities for some beautiful pictures.

Sunday was our day at sea so we enjoyed many of the activities on board like trivia. We actually played trivia every day and I, along with my husband and mom, won a trophy or ship on a stick the first day. We also took in the pg rated comedy shows and the Hasbro family show. I was able to get on stage for the Hasbro show Saturday night and my team won so I had a shot at the grand prize. I ended up in 2nd but I received a new game for the family to enjoy.

We were ready to be home on Monday but hubby and I are already thinking and talking about future cruises.